National Ballet of Canada - Anna Karenina Reviews

Mario from Toronto, Ontario

GENIUS

everylevel of this production, from choreographer to the dancers to the orchestra are genius; although, not for bourgeois philistines- breathtaking.

Kim from Toronto, Ontario

ANNA KARENINA

Breathtaking! Stunning!

Shampa from Toronto, Ontario

COMPELLING PERFOMANCE

Evocative music...creating and contrasting the various moods of the performance...jarring dissonant pieces of the betrayal scenes went effectively against the boisterous music of the mother/son play scenes as well as the Cat Stevens tracks for the country bumpkin Levin who seemed like the salt of the earth kinda character who, in my opinion, stole the show! The dancing was seamless, fluid and breathtaking...I didn’t connect much with Vronsky or Alexei...but I did see how their personalities evolved from start to end. I definitely did not get why Anna’s son was a grown adult who was bigger than her wearing kids clothes. It was weird. I get that maybe the role was to complicated for a child, but it could have been simplified to suit an actual child. Overall I loved this performance. Hats off to the colour scheme, the scenery and props. I felt they were simple which allowed me to focus on the emotions, storyline and dancing styles of the performers.

Jane from Toronto, Ontario

ANNA KARENINA -HOW TO ENJOY IT

I think the ballet is too long but then the book is no novella. This is a massive undertaking to bring Anna Karenna’s life to the stage, unfolding it as a ballet. If and only if you’ve read the synopsis will you make sense of it. There is always lots going on, and the different story lines seem overwhelming IF you don’t know the story. It kept me interested and the dancers really gave it their all. I did not think the tiny train in the death scene was realistic. I’d like to have seen a backdrop of a train. I suppose we were supposed to be seeing the tragedy through the child’s eyes but that somehow didn’t work for me. I have seen two casts so far. Svetlana is really believable as Anna. A striking performance, danced with the intensity and emotional scope the role demands. Would liked to have seen her dance again with Evan McKie though. I would recommend seeing this production for sure, though children would not want to sit that long I don’t think.

Svetlana from Toronto, Ontario

A CONFUSING MESS, FAIRLY BORING OVERALL

A lot of very strange choices — modern Russia but still Many of the scenes contain characters walking around or appearing in the background that don't belong and it's quite unclear as to There's a lot of unnecessarily long scenes, e.g. lacrosse game, harvest (why are they using scythes…?) Awkward adult dressed up in a kid's clothing as Anna's son… Random farmer boy in leather pants appearing all the time in ways that don't make sense

Lakambini from Toronto, Ontario

WORST BALLET I HAVE SEEN

This is unfortunate as I was looking forward to seeing Anna Karenina by the National Ballet. This one is very difficult to follow with all characters seem to be having an affair. The props were boring; costuming so simple. Although the dance technique is there especiallly from the principal male and female ballet dancers, the rest seems to be doing some sort of exercise and body movement. Tanya Howard is superb. It brightens my otherwise unhappy mood whenever she comes on the stage. I saw a couple of patrons who left in the middle of the first act; many did not come back after the intermission. I was thinking of leaving as well but decided to brave it until the end as I have never left a ballet show halfway through. Lots of empty seats around my orchestra area towards the end. What a waste. Please do not mess with a good classical ballet.

Paul from Toronto, Ontario

POOR, POOR TOLSTOY

I went to this travesty solely out of my admiration for Tolstoy and my love for the actual novel, Anna Karenina. This was not the ballet but more like a yawn-inducing struggle against narcolepsy. It wasn't faithful to the story or to the characters or to the themes. While I acknowledge the concept of creative licence, this was more akin to cultural desecration. By the time the curtain mercifully descended, I thought of Tolstoy's ghost standing over this mutilated corpse of a performance much like a dignified Brando in the Godfather - staring at his dead son and lamenting: "look how they massacred my boy!"

Francine from Toronto, Ontario

CONFUSION

At no point could I figure out who was who.The scenes were repetitive, prolonged embracing etc.. The dancing was supreme. I was disappointed as I love the novel and had high expectations. It could have been half the length. Many left early. I will stress though that the dancing was wonderful

Zaneta from Toronto, Ontario

THE END COULDN'T COME SOON ENOUGH

For those who love ballet for its spectacular set designs, beautifully crafted costumes, and graceful dancing, this has none of that. This modernized version of Tolstoy's Russian classic feels more like a bad, low budget high school production with its minimalist, stark white sets, horrid lighting, and casual clothes as costumes. There was more possessed interpretive/contemporary flailing than actual ballet. Absolutely awful and a waste money and 3 hours that could have been spent doing something more enjoyable. Perhaps the most entertaining part of Thursday night's performance was when an angry elderly Russian lady stormed out in the second half during a particularly appalling avant garde scene with Anna and the dead worker's ghost screaming, "THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE, ANNA KARENINA THIS IS A DISGRACE TO RUSSIA!!" When that's the highlight of the night, you've got a problem.

Alisa from Toronto, Ontario

ANNA KARENINA? OR WHAT?

Through what kind of prism such strange vision of the greatest book was presented on the stage? it is not Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina", so why then to hide behind this Name? it is not fair to the young generation!!!

from Toronto, Ontario

AWFUL OVERLY PRETENTIOUS

Honestly I love the national ballet but I've seen people fall on stage and seen better productions than this. Way too long and not cohesive. Thank goodness I got rush seats and only spent $40.00.

Brian Stein from Toronto, Ontario

ANNA KARENINA A MAJOR DISAPPOINTMENT

John Neumier has set Nijinsky and The Seagull on the National Ballet, among others, that are also rooted in Russian culture and history. Both are beautiful, even sublime. But Anna Karenina is a huge misstep. Any ballet that needs three pages of synopsis notes is doing something wrong. For me, the story was hard to follow, even after wading through the notes. I had difficulty keeping the three female dancers straight -- is that Dolly or Kitty or even Anna? -- and it was only because of Levin's red flannel shirt and boots that I knew every time he was centre stage it was in fact him. I thought the physical production was interesting to look at but the choreography was awkward, far too kinetic, sometimes downright dull. Confession: I fled after intermission.

Isabelle from Toronto, Ontario

HOT MESS

This was unwatchable. Prop overload (an actual tractor, really?), confused storytelling, creepy man child, endless random la crosse scenes, and that’s barely the tip of this hot mess. This show has you both shaking your head and burst into laughter, it’s so ridiculous. We left after the first act. I have never left a show before the end.

David from Toronto, Ontario

AWFUL MESS

I had a hard time following the story and even tracking the characters. T he dancers were great but not his storytelling.

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